I hope everyone is enjoying celebrating Easter/Passover/the long weekend! It’s about 30 degrees Celsius here in Sydney, so it kinda seems odd that it’s Easter and technically meant to be Autumn. I am very much looking forward to the weather cooling down and really getting back into the kitchen again. Summer was hot here this year, and it definitely kept me away from the kitchen after the necessities of cooking for Christmas were over. Slowly I am finding moments in the kitchen, mostly to prepare for the work week, but also gradually getting back into the habit of baking and cooking purely for the joy if it.

This long weekend I plan to make my annual lot of hot cross buns and have my first foray into making matzo ball soup. I’m thinking these are the best dishes of the two religious holidays celebrated this weekend so it is only fitting to give it them both a go. I have tried Matzo ball soup only once before, so I have been looking through my cookbooks and comparing the recipes from the likes of Yotam Ottolenghi and the Monday Morning Cooking Club to get all the tips and advice possible! Here’s hoping it goes well!

Since receiving this flour I have done a little research on the low FODMAP diet, and suffice to say the diet cuts out quite a few things across all food groups.

The low FODMAP diet was developed by Monash University and aims to provide relief for those suffering IBS. Luckily the diet isn’t intended as a long term thing, rather a 6 or so week program to determine what high FODMAP foods someone may be reacting to. They can then reintroduce other high FODMAP foods to their diet and continue to minimise those that still act as triggers.

For these scrolls I have used a tried and tested brioche recipe so I could compare how they turned out using this new flour. And honestly, there is no comparison. The texture of the brioche is exactly the same as using regular plain flour. Which is great as it means everyone can enjoy all sorts of homemade baked goods without compromising on the quality of their bakes and not having to feel unwell after. I have tried to make these as hot cross bun inspired as possible by adding the same types of spices as I would to my hot cross buns. You can however use whatever combination you like, or in keeping with these being low FODMAP and for Easter, use dark chocolate instead.

To make these scrolls Low FODMAP not only can you use The Healthy Baker’s flour but also substitute dairy milk for almond. I was also going to add dried fruit to the dough to make the scrolls even more like hot cross buns, but as dried fruit are high FODMAP I have left them out this time - so I guess these brioche scrolls can be like a better version of a fruitless hot cross bun for Easter!

To get an idea about what other foods are low or high FODMAP check out the Monash University website which as some really good resources.

In a small saucepan warm the milk over low heat until lukewarm. Add the yeast, sugar and eggs and stir to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour then the milk mixture and mix on a low speed until the ingredients are starting to combine and a dough is beginning to form. Increase the speed to medium-high for 5 minutes. Add the butter and mix on medium speed until it has been incorporated into the dough, and the dough is smooth and elastic.

Use some butter to lightly grease a large bowl then place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough is rising prepare the spiced sugar for the filling by combining the panela sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice, ginger and cardamom in a small bowl.

Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Gently roll the dough into a rectangle (approx. 25 x 48 cm) allowing it to remain about 1 cm thick.

Spread the softened butter over the dough then sprinkle over the spiced sugar mix. Roll the dough from the long edge to form a log, then cut into about 12 pieces. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and place the cut scrolls on the sheet in rows leaving room in between each so they can rise. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise again for about 30 minutes until the scrolls have doubled in size.

While the scrolls are rising, pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Once the scrolls have doubled in size, sprinkle with pearl sugar if you wish, and bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

Serve warm and if there are any leftovers freeze them in zip lock bags to enjoy later.

*Pearl sugar (or nib sugar) does not melt at high temperatures and can be used to decorate baked goods. It can be found at specialty food shops.

I really love this cake. It is something I crave and always want to make. It comes from Molly Yeh’s (of the blog My Name Is Yeh) book ‘Molly on the Range.’ And I think the fact that it is so good and moorish is a testament to her cake making and recipe creation skills (but if you have seen her blog you’d never doubt those anyway!). The first time I tried this cake however, someone else made it for me.

In February my Grandpa died, and one of my friends made this cake for me. It was really special as I had given her a copy of ‘Molly on the Range’ a few months before, for her birthday. This same friend made a cake when my Grandma died four years earlier, a chocolate vanilla marble cake. It was at that time that I learnt that giving flowers when someone is grieving was not a universal custom. Often, giving food is. And as a great lover of food, I think this particular tradition is something I can get behind. Food is one of the greatest comforts we can give one another, and I think that is why it is so fitting to receive food during times of grief, and why it is customary for some.

On both occasions I was so humbled by my friends generosity, and the knowledge that she had gone to so much effort. The pistachio loaf cake was so good, I’m pretty sure I ate most of it myself. My friend made some alterations to the recipe, substituting the almond extract for vanilla extract (thankfully, as unbeknownst to her I hate almond extract, and always leave it out of every recipe that asks for it), and that is what I have done each time I have made this cake as well, so I have included that in the recipe below.

Unfortunately I was able to return the cake making favour only a couple of weeks after my friend made this cake for me. Needless to say February wasn’t a great month, or start to the year for either of us. However for me, feeling the support of such friends and having a tangible (and edible) measure of my friend’s support made that time just that much easier.

Pistachio Loaf Cake

Pistachio Loaf Cake

Homegrown Daffodils

Pistachio Loaf Cake

Ingredients:

220g pistachios

75g plain flour

45g almond meal

225g margarine/softened unsalted butter

335g caster sugar

4 eggs

zest of 1/2 a lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:

75g icing sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice, approx.

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius, and grease and line (allow some of the baking paper to hand over the edges, this will help later when you are removing the cake from the tin) a loaf pan - mine is 31 x 7.5 x 8cm so it’s quite long and thin, you can use a loaf tin that is shorter and wider just keep in mind that the middle of the cake might take longer to cook than the timings mentioned in this recipe.

Grind the pistachios down (using a food processor is best for this) until you have an almond meal like texture. Measure out 1.5 cups of the pistachios and reserve any left overs to use when decorating the cake later. Add the pistachio meal, flour and almond meal to a bowl and whisk to combine and get rid of any lumps.

Add the margarine and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer, and cream using the paddle attachment until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs separately, mixing in between each addition. Then mix in the vanilla extract and the lemon zest. Add the flour mixture with the mixer on low speed, and mix until everything is just combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully remove on to a cooling rack.

Once the cake has cooled, make the icing by whisking together the icing sugar and lemon juice. Add a little more lemon juice if the icing is too dry, more icing sugar if it is too runny. Spread the icing over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Decorate with the remaining pistachio meal.

Since I really enjoy reading other people’s favourites lists, I thought I would start my own on a monthly basis. I find I discover new blogs, recipes, books and podcasts through other bloggers lists, or through similar round ups on podcasts, so I hope you can find the same here!

This new blog post from Beth Kirby of Local Milk - I love Beth’s honesty, and acceptance around the fluidity of her blog and it’s changing focuses over time, and her talk of slow living as “deciding what really matters to you and saying no to everything else”.

This Carrot Cake from My Name is Yeh - I made this (sans tahini) for my Dad’s birthday last month. It is now my favourite carrot cake, as the combination of the hawaij spices, carrot and caramel were just perfect!

Courage & Spice Podcast: The Podcast for Humans with Self-Doubt - This is a fairly new podcast from Sas Petherick, who has done extensive research on self-doubt. I am loving hearing Sas’ advice and interviews so far, they often feel like they are great personal pep talks letting me know that self doubt isn’t just something I experience, and there are things I can do to alleviate these feelings and start to boost my confidence.

‘Not Just Lucky’ by Jamila Rizvi - I can’t stop recommending this book (sorry to those who have already heard my insistent arguments on why they should read it!). If you are female you will probably be able to relate to this book. Jamila focuses on women and the work environment, and I can honestly say I related to so much more than I ever thought I would. There were so many moments where I thought, ‘Oh other women feel this way too?’, ‘I’m not the only one?’, and ‘OMG it’s like Jamila knows me’. It’s good to know you aren’t alone in how you feel, particularly in the work environment, and Jamila gives some great advice on how to deal with the gender inequalities that plague our workplaces.

But now on to the doughnuts (or donuts? 🤔I never know which). They are extremely simple to make - they take about 10 minutes to cook, which makes them not only slightly healthier than the traditional fried doughnuts but also much quicker to make. To intensify the vanilla flavour a little, you could use some vanilla sugar instead of the white sugar. I used blood orange juice in the icing, because I love the colour, and I still have lots of blood orange juice frozen from last season!

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and sugar. If your bicarb soda is a bit lumpy, sift to remove the lumps - there’s nothing worse than biting into a baked good to find a lump of baking soda in there!

In a jug, whisk together the milk, yoghurt and the egg. Ensure the egg has been fully mixed into the other ingredients. Add the melted margarine and the vanilla bean paste and whisk until combined. Pour this into the flour mixture and mix until just combined - don’t over mix. Similar to muffins, these will toughen up if over mixed.

Place a medium/large piping bag or zip-lock bag over a large glass to it is easy to fill. Spoon in the batter, then pipe into the donut pan, ensuring you only fill each about three quarters the way up - there is plenty of raising agent in the batter so they will rise and expand, and if each doughnut is overfilled the hole in the centre will disappear!

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the doughnuts are slightly golden and spring back to the touch.

Allow the doughnuts to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack, using a small icing spatula to gently prise the out if necessary (don’t use a knife as you may scratch your tin in the process).

Once the doughnuts have cooled, make the icing by mixing the 200g of the icing sugar and 1 tbsp of the blood orange juice together. If the icing is too runny add more icing sugar, if it is too dry add a little more blood orange juice. You don’t want to the icing to be very runny or it will all run off the donuts, and take any decoration with it!

To ice the doughnuts, dip the top side of each (the side that was facing down in doughnut pan), into the icing and twist to ensure it is evenly coated. Remove and allow any excess icing to drip off. Leave each doughnut to sit with the icing on for a minute or two, then decorate with the sprinkles etc.

I found this recipe in Catherine Phipps' book ‘Citrus’ and found the book, via the podcast ‘Stir the Pot’ by Edd Kimber. I have really taken to listening to podcasts in the past year, after my initial introduction to Cherry Bombe magazine’s ‘Radio Cherry Bombe’, my list of favourites has grown. At first these podcasts, were my way of doing something for myself on my commute to and from a job I really didn’t want to be doing anymore. My emotional health was suffering a lot because of this job, and having something that was just for me on a topic I am obsessed with made each working day a little easier. I had a little bit of a walk from the train station to my old work, and I will always remember the sense of dread I felt once I got closer to work. I would turn the corner and the knowledge that my time was up, until 5pm, would hit me. The following 7-8 hours were all about spending time in an often toxic environment, doing a job that was literally going nowhere.

The highlights of those work days mostly involved food. Apart from the podcasts, what I planned to eat at lunch, what ingredients I would buy on my lunch break or having a quiet lunch with other like minded colleagues were the moments that kept me going. I also stress purchased many a cookbook from the couple of bookstores in the area, which is where I found ‘Citrus’. I had listened to Edd Kimber’s interview with Catherine on his podcast, and had made a mental note to keep an eye out for Catherine’s book. During the interview they had discussed cooking with citrus, and to my delight, cooking with bergamots (see more on my bergamot obsession here). When I found a copy of the book, I instantly knew I had to buy it. I hadn’t been expecting to find it so easily, and being so unhappy in my job made my weakness for buying cookbooks all the more feeble.

There are so many good recipes in ‘Citrus’, covering all types of food and occasions. This tart comes from the Desserts section, which also includes recipes for a Blood Orange and Rhubarb Meringue Pie, Bergamot and Rose Turkish Delight Pavlova (be still my heart) and a Earl Grey and Rose Parfait (was this book actually written just for me?!). I love Catherine’s flavour combinations, and the information on how to use particular and less common citrus.

You don’t need a food processor for the pastry in this recipe, which I loved as we no longer have one (we weren’t using it so gave it away!). I used a selection of citrus for the filling, lemon, lemonades and bergamots. You could just use one type of citrus, it just depends what you feel like. However as a guide, the original recipe stipulates the zest of 2 lemons and the juice of 3 lemons for the filling - use this as a guide re the quantities of juice in particular as for example, a large orange will hold more juice than a lemon.

To make the pastry, put the flour and salt in a bowl, and rub in the butter until it looks like almond meal. Stir in the icing sugar, then add the egg yolks and mixing it all together with your hands. If the dough is too crumbly at this stage, add a small amount of ice cold water to help bring it together. Shape into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap, and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough has rested, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the pastry, dusting with extra flour if necessary. Roll it fairly thinly, however don’t go so thin that it will easily break when you are placing it into the tart tin. The pastry needs to have the circumference to line a 24cm tart tin (approx.). Gently place the pastry over the tart tin, and gently push it in to the sides of the tin, trimming the edges that hang over the sides. Keep some of the left over raw pastry for later in case you need to patch up your tart case after the blind baking process.

Put the raw pastry case in the freezer for 10 minutes, then prick the pastry all over with a fork. Crumple up a piece of baking paper, then place it over the tart and fill with pastry weights. Bake the tart for 15 minutes, then remove the pastry weights and the baking paper and bake again for about 5 minutes. At this stage you don’t want any of your tart shell to be raw. Leave the tart shell to cool while you make the filling, and turn down the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

To make the filling whisk the eggs and caster sugar together until they are well combined, then whisk in the cream and citrus zest and juice. To fill the pastry case, place on a lined baking sheet and pull out one of the oven racks and place it on the rack. Gently pour the filling into the case from here (best to use a jug for this), then gently push the oven rack back in and bake for 30-40 minutes until the tart filling is just set (it will still wobble slightly). Leave the tart to cool before serving, and store in the fridge if there are leftovers!

Citrus Tart

Reference: Citrus by Catherine Phipps (Quadrille, 2017), p.168.

Citrus Tart

If you are struggling at work…

I would highly recommend one or more of these books/podcasts. While I am no longer working in the environment I mentioned in this post, I still find these resources immensely valuable.

Over the last few years, I have been on a somewhat unofficial sometimes unintentional quest to find the best sponge cake recipe. You’d think that a cake with such few ingredients would be the same all round, but they never are! Corn flour or all plain flour, or self raising flour, custard powder, melted butter or no butter? Each time I find a new recipe, it becomes my new favourite until months or years later, I stumble across a new one.

This particular recipe, was right under my nose the whole time, and it is by far the best I have found during my quest! It is from the book ‘Local is Lovely’, which is a small unassuming book, that is absolutely jam packed full of really good recipes. And when I mean jam packed I mean it! Every time I take a look through, I seem to add more sticky notes to another page for another recipe I want to make.

On this particular occasion I had bought some duck eggs, which was super exciting, but I wasn’t sure what to make with them. I had heard that duck eggs made good sponge cakes so I went looking for a recipe, and sure enough ‘Local is Lovely’ delivered the goods (again!). It turned out to be the nicest sponge cake ever, so now I can definitively say duck eggs do make really good sponges! The honey added to the cream is also a simple yet utterly amazing idea that gives the whole cake a subtle sweetness that was so incredibly more-ish.

I now keep an eye out for duck eggs, just in case I am given the opportunity to make this cake again. If you can’t find any, use five larger chicken eggs.

Duck Eggs

Duck Egg Sponge Cake

Duck Egg Sponge Cake

Duck Egg Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

x4 duck eggs

140g caster sugar or golden caster sugar

160g plain flour, plus extra for the tin

2 tsp baking powder

300ml pouring cream

90 ml honey

dried edible flowers, to decorate (optional)

butter, to grease the tin

Method:

If your duck eggs have been in the fridge, take them out and allow them to come down to room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs and sugar. I suggest cracking each duck egg into a glass and pouring it into the bowl. Duck eggs have a harder shell than chicken eggs and I found that more of the shell shattered away (and into the egg itself) because a little more force was needed to crack them open. This way it is easier to remove any stray bits of shell before adding the eggs to the bowl.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together for about 10 minutes, on medium to high speed. The mixture will triple in size and become pale and fluffy.

While the eggs are whisking, measure the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and whisk together to remove any lumps. Carefully add the flour and baking powder to the whisked eggs, gently and quickly folding it into the eggs with a large metal spoon.

Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins, and bake for 15-20 minutes. The cakes will be golden in colour and spring back when lightly touched.

Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for a couple of minutes. Place a sheet of baking paper on a cooling rack, and remove each cake from their tins on to the paper. This will prevent the cakes sticking to the cooling racks. Alternatively, you can leave the baking paper that is already on the base of each cake, and place them straight on the racks.

Once the cakes have cooled (this shouldn’t take too long), prepare the cream filling. Whip the cream until it has thickened and soft peaks are forming. Add the honey and whisk until combined. Place one of the cakes on a cake stand or serving plate, and top with 1/2 - 3/4 of the cream. Place the second sponge on top and finish with the remaining cream. Sprinkle dried edible flowers over the top of the cake to decorate.

If you’ve been following me on Instagram lately, you may have noticed my slight obsession with bergamots. I seem to be drawn to interesting and lesser known fruits, and bergamots are no exception. Bergamot is a citrus, and is best known for being the flavour in Earl Grey tea. It has a slight floral flavour, which in my opinion not only makes it slightly sweeter and less sour than other citrus, but also it’s best quality. As evidenced by how many times I have used rose in my cooking, it is no surprise that I like the floral notes of bergamot. It may be a little much for some, I guess it depends on what you like, but as far as I’m concerned, it is now my favourite citrus.

This does however pose a problem. Bergamot being a lesser known variety of citrus, are therefore not grown and sold nearly as readily as other citrus varieties. To the point where I have never seen bergamots being sold anywhere here in Sydney (if you know of anywhere please let me know!).

As I have mentioned before, last year we were able to buy and plant a bergamot tree. I watched the three bergamots growing on the tree for months, hoping they would survive, and be as tasty as I hoped. Finally last month, they had turned from a bright green, to yellow and were ready to be picked. I deliberated for quite a while about what to make with them, with only three bergamots for the whole season, I needed to make a good choice.

One of the options I settled on was this loaf cake, which can be made with any other citrus if you don’t have access to bergamots. The zest in the cake, and the juice in the syrup and icing give the cake a lovely flavour that will brighten up any dreary Winter’s day.

What is your favourite citrus? Have you even eaten or baked with bergamots before?

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease and line a loaf pan (31 x 7.5 x 8cm, approx). Allow some of the baking paper to come above the sides of the tin so it will be easy to remove the cake from the tin later.

In using a stand mixer, beat the margarine and sugar until well combined and creamy. Add almost all of the bergamot zest, leaving some to add to the icing later. Mix well then add the eggs separately, ensuring they are well combined.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder, then add half of this to the cake batter until just combined. Add the milk, then the remaining flour and mix until just combined.

Transfer the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake is golden, springy to the touch and cooked in the centre (check with a skewer).

Once the cake is of out of the oven, make the bergamot syrup by gently heating all the ingredients in a small pan over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Poke holes in the cake using a skewer, then spoon over the syrup so it evenly covers all of the cake. Allow the syrup to soak in and the cake to cool.

Once the cake has cooled, remove from the tin using the overhanging baking paper to help. Make the icing by whisking the icing sugar in a medium bowl until most of the lumps have been broken up. Add the remaining bergamot zest and 2 tbsp of the juice and whisk until combined. If the icing is too thick add a little more juice (or water), if the icing is too runny add more icing sugar and mix. When you have a good consistency, ice the cake allowing the icing to run down the sides.

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I am home now after a weekend away of enjoying good food and attending the #myopenkitchengathering in Orange. It was so good to put faces to names (or Instagram handles rather!) and meet people I’ve ‘met’ here on Instagram in person, and catch up with a few I haven’t seen in a while. It was a great way to spend the weekend, and I am now throughly wishing it wasn’t all over! Check out my Stories highlights for a recap of the weekend.

I made Matzo Ball Soup! I have been wanting to make this for ages and I’ve finally ticked it off my list! Yesterday I spent a while in the kitchen making this soup and a batch of hot cross buns and now I think we will be well fed for the rest of the long weekend ❤️.

I am hoping to make some hot cross buns tomorrow, I can’t decide whether to stick to the recipe I usually use or try a new one? What do you think? .
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Also, I posted the recipe for my Easter spiced brioche scrolls using @thehealthybaker Low FODMAP Plain Flour (see previous post) on the blog today. So if you are keen for some long weekend baking, go check it out - link in my profile. I hope everyone is having a good long weekend so far!

So I spent last Sunday making these Easter spiced brioche scrolls and while I think my scroll technique needs some work, they tasted so good. I used @thehealthybaker Low FODMAP Plain Flour for these and I am very happy to say it worked so well. I am hoping to share the recipe on the blog on Friday!

Oh hi there Instagram! It’s been a while hasn’t it?! I’d love to say I’ve been off relaxing, eating cake and reading cookbooks, but if I did I would be lying (except about the cake... there was in fact some cake at times). Instead I have been working, adjusting to new medication for my migraines and trying to slow down the general pace of life over here. I am slowly getting back into the kitchen and will hopefully pick up that camera a little more often too. I hope everyone has had a good start to 2018, here’s to more baking, cake and time to read cookbooks!

Just got home from a lovely dinner at Glass Brasserie at the Hilton (see more on my stories) and drove past some pretty epic Christmas lights/decorations on the way home! Tomorrow I will finish off my fruit mince tarts and make the Pavlova ready to top with cream and fruit on Christmas Day - not that I can really think about food right now, I am so full from that dinner! Though if you are still looking for Christmas dessert inspiration you can still get my eBook via the link in my profile. Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁🍒

Currently on the train home from work, listening to Taylor’s new album accompanied by two punnets of red currants and some Little Big Dairy Co pouring cream from David Jones food hall. Oh and some more copper fairy lights from Kikki-K. Christmas spirit (or panic, I’m not sure) in full swing over here! 🙋🏼‍♀️.
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This cake is my Christmas Gingerbread Bundt Cake, which red currants decorate beautifully. The recipe is in my eBook - link in my profile.

I have been keeping my eyes peeled for some of these white cherries lately. No luck yet, but fingers crossed I can find some soon! Also starting to freak out about how little time there is left before Christmas! So much to do so little time!. .
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If you find any white cherries, try making the cherry frangipane tart in my eBook! Link to download in my profile.

Anyone else super happy it’s Friday? I am so glad it’s the weekend, some weeks just feel harder than others don’t they? I am hoping to do a little baking before I head back to work next week, and buy some more peonies - they are just too beautiful to resist..
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And don’t forget to grab your free copy of my Christmas Baking eBook - sign up via the link in my profile. I hope it will help you plan your Christmas baking and holiday menus - something that I need to start thinking about ASAP as well!

Today’s little harvest! The first of what looks like will be quite a few tomatoes from our 2 plants, a few edible flowers and a couple of sprigs of flowering thyme. What things do you have growing in your garden?